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Amp Agency Buys Search Shop
Boston ad firm bolsters its search offering via acquisition
David Gianatasio, ADWEEK - July 23, 2009
*Progress Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to
Rock Coast Media in its acquisition by Amp.
BOSTON - The Amp Agency here, best known for its racy
campaigns touting LifeStyles condoms, has acquired Rock Coast Media, an independent interactive and
search marketing shop in Newburyport, Mass.
The deal brings Rock Coast's 10 employees into the Amp fold as part of the latter's media services
group that focuses on search, public relations and related offerings. That unit will employ 25
staffers with the addition of Rock Coast's personnel.
Former Rock Coast leaders Stephen Anderson and Josh Pike become svps at Amp. Terms of the
deal were not disclosed.
Though most smaller and mid-sized shops are playing it safe in the uncertain economy, Amp has been
fairly aggressive, making two acquisitions in as many years. The agency's deal with Rock Coast
follows its 2008 absorption of creatively focused Fulgent Media Group.
Gary Colen, CEO of Amp, said the need to provide comprehensive strategic services under one roof is
driving the need for expansion. Adding Rock Coast improves Amp's search offering and allows the shop
to help clients "maximize their online investment and extend the impact of campaigns," he said.
(read
more) (ADWEEK)
WSJ:
AOL Buys Patch Media Corp. and Going Inc. in Local Push
Wall
Street Journal - June 11, 2009
*Progress Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to
Going, Inc. in its acquisition by AOL.
Time
Warner Inc.'s (TWX) AOL unit has acquired local online media companies
Patch Media Corp. and Going
Inc. as part of a broader strategy to build the company's
position in the relatively fast-growing local online advertising
market. The acquisitions come as Time Warner moves to split off
AOL into an independent company and AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong,
who joined the company in April, is working on putting together
a new structure and strategy, in which local content is one major
push. Patch creates technologies and operates Web sites to help
local communities publish news and information. Going lets users
share information about local events
(read
more) (WSJ)
AOL buys local Startups Going and Patch
Tech
Crunch - June 11, 2009
*Progress
Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to Going, Inc.
in its acquisition by AOL.
NEW
YORK--When your main seed investor becomes the CEO of AOL, it
does have its fringe benefits. Today, AOL announced its acquisition
of two local startups: Patch
and Going. AOL’s
new CEO Tim Armstrong is a seed investor in Patch, which offers
hyperlocal news for small towns and communities. In a note he
sent out today to employees, which we’ve obtained from AOL, he
notes that he recused himself from the acquisition negotiations
and that instead of profiting from the deal he asked to get his
initial seed investment back in AOL stock when it goes
public. Going is a local event and entertainment listing site
based in Boston which raised a $5 million Series A in 2007. Both
acquisitions were in the single-digit millions. (read
more)
Live Cargo buys CMWare
peHub - January 28, 2009
*CMWare is a former client of Progress Partners
Live Cargo
Inc., Greensboro, NC, a leading provider of mobile streaming,
IPTV, web-based social networking and an infrastructure and data
center for storage of user generated content, has acquired CMWare
Inc., Plainsboro, NJ, a mobile marketing technology company.
The sale was an equity and cash transaction and was facilitated
by Progress Partners Inc., who was retained as an investment bank
to assist with the asset sale process, which included technology
assets and intellectual property. (read
more)
Propelling Mobile Marketing To The Next Level
Online Media Daily - July 16, 2008
by Nick MacShane
The use of mobile technology as a means of reaching consumers is one of the largest remaining areas in digital marketing that has yet to be fully tapped.
As the effectiveness of traditional mobile banner ads begins to diminish, consistent with current online trends, advertisers are likely to turn to more targeted messages that location-based mobile advertising can provide. Over the next decade, location-relevant marketing is expected to drive the advertising market. (read
more)
Avoid Capitalization Pitfalls
AlwaysOn - April 6, 2008
by Nick MacShane
Next media companies—the emerging generation of telecom, media, and technology ventures that are defining the future of the digital experience—are hot. But despite the promise the industry holds, executives in this market segment face significant challenges in securing the financing required to build their businesses. Most next media companies require external financing to grow, but actually securing capital, which can be a time-consuming distraction from managing a successful business, can be an onerous proposition.
(read
more)
AlwaysOn to Hold Venture Summit East Program in Boston
Business Wire - March 18, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO--AlwaysOn, the Insider’s Network, today announced it will be holding Venture Summit East from April 7 – 9, 2008 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston . The focus of the event will be “Where the Big Money Meets the Big Ideas.” Venture Summit East is a two-day gathering that highlights the significant economic, political, and technology trends impacting the global growth investor. The Venture Summit East program will feature institutional investors, venture capitalists, corporate buyers, investment bankers, and research analysts in the Eastern U.S. in keynote presentations and panel debates. (read
more)
Boston
Boutique Bank Progress Partners Comes To NY
Silcon Alley Insider - February 26, 2008
by Jay Yarro
Progress Partners, a Boston-based
boutique investment banking firm, has opened a new office on
Union Square. Welcome to the neighborhood, guys!
Progress Partners provides funding and consultation for
early and mid-stage "next media" companies. We're not sure
what "next media" companies are, but we're betting they're
pretty cool. In the past Progess has worked with Worktopia,
Tremor Media, and ContextWeb. E. Frits Abell and Doug
Krugman will be in charge of the New York office. (read
more)
New England VCs Bit Into
Big Apple Media
Mass High Tech - November 16, 2007
by Christopher
Calnan
A growing demand for digital media is fueling investment in
New York media companies by
New England venture capitalists. More and more early-stage
media startups are forming in
New York, an investment playground dominated by the world's
largest private equity firms that don't focus on early-stage
investments. In the past year,
New England VCs have seen that capital gap and pounced. New
England VC investments in
New York media startups through October already matched those
in all of 2006. (read more) Progress Partners Secures $5 Million Series A Financing for Worktopia
MSNBC via MarketWire - November 1, 2007
BOSTON , MA and NEW YORK , NY -
Worktopia, an online meeting booking service focused on facilitating meeting space in hotels, conference centers, business centers and other venues, announced it has completed a $5 million Series A financing round. DFJ Gotham Ventures led the round, with participation by Milestone Venture Partners and High Peaks Venture Partners.
Boston-based Progress Partners, with directors who are registered representatives of New York-based Brill Securities, Inc., arranged financing on behalf of Worktopia, serving as exclusive financial advisor to the company. (read more)
The Past Three Months in Digital Content Investing
American Venture Magazine – Q2 2007
By Layne Ainsworth
A significant amount of investment
activity in digital media content over the past three months has
been in companies whose business consolidates related content across
delivery channels. Just under a third (9) of the 31 digital media
companies involved in transactions during the last three months have
been in this category. (read
more)
A Toasty VC Climate
for Internet Entrepreneurs
E-Commerce Times
- October 23, 2006
By Jennifer LeClaire
"We're just as interested in Internet firms today as we were
in the late 1990s," General Catalyst Principal Neil Sequeira
told the E-Commerce Times. "One of the biggest differences
between then and now is the cost of launching a business today
is more capital-efficient. It doesn't take as much
money to launch today." (read
more)
Progress Secures $8.4
million for Online Media Firm
Boston
Business Journal
Progress Partners, Inc. said Monday
it secured $8.4 million in funding for Tremor Media, an online
advertising firm. (read more)
Digital Dealing: New
Media Pays for Progress Partners
Boston Business
Journal - October 13, 2006
By Lisa van der Pool
The entrepreneurial spirit is thick at Progress Partners, a 4-year-old
investment bank that aims to help new businesses get up and running.
The Boston-based shop recently closed several deals in the digital
media space, which the company specializes in. (read
more)
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